Duckling
by cherrycordial
Summary: Bella and Jacob are expecting their second child, and leave their two-year-old daughter Sarah with Charlie for the day while they go to the doctor to see if the unborn baby is a boy or a girl. Simple and sweet family moments. –– AU after Edward left, but Jake imprinted on Bella.


_A/N: This is a one-shot I started last night. It's about Jacob and Bella expecting their second baby, and their two-year-old daughter Sarah's thoughts about having a baby brother or sister around. xD AU where Edward is gone and my beautiful Jella are happy together. :3 I suffered from so many feels while writing this - I literally couldn't stop smiling. My dog - who acts as my irresponsible secretary that doesn't get the job done but instead sits at the foot of my bed sleeping all day - must have thought I was nuts when I kept squealing and giggling to myself like an idiot. xD Oh, and by the way, Jacob is kind of a wolf in this story, but he stopped phasing a while ago so he could live a happy, normal life with Bella and Sarah. :)_

_Favorite or maybe leave a review? :)_

_- Cherry_

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_**Duckling**_

—

Bella crouched in front of the toilet, one hand curled around the round bulge that was her extended belly and the other holding back her own hair. As she sank back onto her knees, her lips forming a miserable pout, she gazed down at her stomach and caressed it tenderly. She knew it wasn't the baby's fault she had such bad morning sickness—it was just what came along with pregnancy.

A knock on the bathroom door startled her, but she relaxed as her husband's voice spoke through the wood. "Hey, baby," he said, sounding hesitant. "How you doing? Do you need anything?"

"No," Bella responded, wiping the edge of her mouth with her hand before reaching out to flush the toilet. She hated the gurgling sound it made as her breakfast was whisked away into the sewers.

There was a small pause before she asked in a little voice, "Could you sit with me, though?"

The door opened, and Jacob leaned in, his face apologetic and his dark eyes unreadable. He stepped in, followed by a tiny toddler clutching at his index finger with her bitty baby fist, her free thumb in her mouth. Her chocolate brown eyes, the same as the ones in Bella's face, were wide. Bella's heart nearly broke in two as she noticed the look of sadness and fear in her little girl's eyes. She hated whenever Sarah was upset about something, whether it was a scrape on her knee or just a bad day.

She held her arms out as Jacob sank down beside her. Sarah released his finger and eagerly went to her mother, plunking herself down into Bella's lap and resting her head under the hollow in Bella's shoulder. Bella wrapped her arms around her daughter and brushed the dark curls away from her tiny face. She noticed the shadows beneath Sarah's half-closed eyes, and worry crept through her.

"Has she taken her nap yet today?" she asked Jacob softly, patting Sarah's back absentmindedly.

"Yeah," he replied, running his hand through his short black hair. "But she wouldn't stay asleep."

Bella frowned, and was going to suggest reading to their daughter when she felt Sarah's tiny hand touching her stomach. She looked down; Sarah was feeling her baby bump with curiosity in her expression, all traces of fatigue and sadness gone, her little palm resting carefully against the bulge.

"What's in there, Sarah?" Bella murmured, kissing Sarah's forehead and patting her back again.

Sarah glanced up at her mother with a dimpled smile, brown eyes glowing over their shadows. She patted Bella's stomach gently, as though she knew not to poke or apply too much pressure. She had always been a softhearted child, quiet like her mother but occasionally playful like her father. She had her own ways of looking at things and Bella's headstrong will to get what she wanted. She liked music and reading books, especially the ones with pictures, and had the tendency to fall down a lot. She was like her parents in both personality and looks; anyone who saw her would know she was theirs.

"Tummy," was her insightful reply, and she moved her hand to her own stomach and felt it.

"That's right," Jacob said encouragingly. "And what's in Mommy's tummy, Sarah?"

Sarah looked from her tummy to Bella's, and eventually decided, "Mama has a duck."

Bella threw her head back and laughed at the childlike response, and held her daughter closer, planting kisses along the crown of her head. Sarah squealed with raspy laughter, kicking her tiny feet.

"I don't think there's a duck in there, honeypot," Bella amended lightly. "It's a baby."

Sarah's plump pink lips formed an 'o,' and her eyes widened in surprise. "Baby?" she repeated.

"You know what a baby looks like, right?" Jacob asked. "Remember in that story we read last night, the one with the king and queen? 'Member how the princess was a baby, and she had long hair?"

Sarah thought about this for a moment. Bella watched with love in her eyes as her daughter put two and two together, lips forming a supple pucker and a crease forming in between her eyes. Sarah was smarter than most two-and-a-half-year-olds—being a child who observed rather than participated, she paid better attention and understood more than other toddlers her age. But she still didn't like change and preferred everything to stay exactly the same as they were five seconds ago, and could be demanding and grumpy when she didn't get what she wanted exactly the moment when she wanted it.

"Baby ha'...long 'air," Sarah repeated slowly. "Mama baby ha' long 'air too?"

Jacob laughed. "No, _this_ baby won't have much hair. Not until he or she is your age." He poked his daughter gently in the belly, eliciting sweet giggles. "And how old are you, Sarah?" he asked.

"Two!" She held up two fingers and smiled proudly. "Two an' half." She'd heard her parents discussing her age before; not that she really cared, it didn't make much difference to her how old a person was, as long as they gave her cookies before dinner and read her a bedtime story at night.

"That's right, you're two and a half," Jacob said, as Sarah beamed smugly, proud of herself.

Bella kissed the top of her daughter's head again, and Sarah curled up against her chest, her eyes closing with a soft yawn; and one of her hands came to rest against her mother's stomach. She fell asleep, thinking of long-haired princess babies, and Bella wondered what she was dreaming about.

—

Jacob pulled his daughter's blankets up over her small body and bent over to plant a kiss on her forehead. Her face was serene and still so baby-like in sleep; her eyelids fluttered, her hands curled into loose fists. His fingers slipped through the soft, bouncy curls that sprang up all around her head, the same glossy raven-black color as his own hair. She had inherited her curly hair from Bella's father, Charlie; they were fairly close, as Sarah liked drawing pictures for him before going to visit him in Forks.

And as Jacob stood there for a while, staring down at his little girl's face, he got an idea.

Next week they were going to see Bella's obstetrician to see if the baby was a boy or a girl, and she had begun wondering about names. Now that her father was in Jacob's thoughts, he had a name that would be perfect for a boy—and a moment later he came up with one for another girl, and smiled.

"Good night, Sarah," he whispered, kissing her forehead again before turning off her bedside lamp. He left her door open a few inches so he would hear her if she called, then turned and headed back downstairs. The house was quiet tonight; the rain had decided to hold off for a while, something of which Jacob was pleased about. It made his wife and daughter restless when it went on for too long.

Bella had showered and thrown on one of his old shirts and a pair of grey sweatpants, and now stood in front of their bathroom mirror, tugging her hairbrush through her long water-darkened brown locks until they were impeccably straight, and singing softly to herself. He couldn't help but to notice the circles under her eyes; she, like Sarah, was having a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep lately, though she seemed to have a rougher time at it than their daughter. It was the nightmares, he recalled.

Bella always had nightmares—they had gone away for a while, but after she became pregnant again they returned almost every night. She couldn't remember what they were about, even if she had just woken up from one. But it took her a very long time to fall asleep after one of them attacked.

She caught his gaze in the mirror, and her cheeks turned red as she realized he had heard her singing. He chuckled, then came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder and gently feeling her baby bump. She reached back one hand and touched his silky hair, closing her eyes and relishing in the immense warmth of his skin against her belly's extended flesh.

He pressed his lips to the hollow beneath her ear. Usually this would have induced a round of desire she couldn't suppress; but now it sort of tickled, and it felt nice, and it made her feel loved. She turned around slowly and wrapped her arms around his neck, standing up on her toes to kiss him. His lips, warm and soft, brushed against hers in a whispered dance nobody else but them could hear.

"How do you feel about being pregnant with a duck?" he joked, his teeth grazing her earlobe.

A shiver passed down her spine, and she giggled softly. "It's interesting. I can hear it quacking."

His breath was hot on her skin as he laughed silently into her neck, his arms around her waist. She hummed a small laugh and rested her head against his shoulder, touching the back of his neck.

He rubbed her back gently and kissed her shoulder. "You tired yet, honey?"

"Mm...a little," Bella responded sleepily, and he chuckled as she yawned into his shoulder.

"All right, then. To bed you go, my beautiful bride." And Jacob scooped her up gently into his arms, holding her fragile frame to his chest, and he whisked her off to the bed that waited for her.

**—**

"Gran'pa!" Jacob set Sarah down on the sidewalk, and she streaked like a bullet towards Charlie. "Gran'pa, Gran'pa, Gran'pa!" she squealed, her booted feet carrying her only so far before she tripped and fell to her knees onto the pavement. But she picked herself back up and trotted to her grandfather.

"There she is!" Charlie scooped her up into his arms and playfully pretended to eat her. She screamed with laughter and kicked her legs, batting her hands against his face as she tried to escape.

Sarah was going to stay with Charlie for the day while Jacob and Bella went to the doctor. They figured she was too little to really understand what was going on; as smart as she was, they wouldn't want her to be confused or scared by all the medical equipment. Plus they weren't sure if children were allowed into the exam rooms. So it was a good time for Sarah to visit Charlie, and she was ecstatic.

"Sarah," Bella called as she stepped out of the car, "where's the picture you drew for Grandpa?"

"Ma bag," Sarah called, pointing to her side of the car where she had forgotten her little back-pack. "I d'ew you a pic'ter, Gran'pa," she told Charlie happily, kicking her legs again in excitement.

"You did?" Charlie asked. "Well, thank you. I can't wait to see it." Even though he had grown to expect drawings from his granddaughter each and every time she came over, he was always eager to see what she had created. Sarah had a colorful imagination; her favorite thing to draw was dragons.

Sarah ran back over to the car and Bella handed her the tiny Hello Kitty backpack she'd received for her second birthday. The front pocket was overflowing with crayons, markers, and sticker pages.

She pulled the zipper and reached inside, blindly toddling back over to Charlie. With her usual wide, dimpled smile, she presented her drawing and handed it to him. It was her typical creation of rainbow-colored swirls and shapes, with a green, fire-breathing dragon in the corner. Misshapen cats and dogs, all colored purple and blue and yellow, were scribbled under the bright colorful shapes.

"Wow," Charlie said appreciatively, bending down to her height. "This is amazing, Sarah-Bear. You did all this?" He smiled as she bobbed her head, her black pigtails bobbing and her smile wider still. "Well, thank you very much, I'll find a frame and hang it up in my kitchen. How does that sound?"

Sarah giggled hopped up and down, then flung her little arms around his neck and hugged him.

She sat in Charlie's lap as they all talked for a while, her big brown eyes scouring the living room and her fingers occasionally entering her mouth; like her mother, she had a habit of biting her nails.

"So," Charlie eventually said, "what's your best guess of what the baby's gonna be?"

"Boy," said Bella, the same time Jacob said, "Girl." They smiled at each other and laughed.

"Ducky!" Sarah exclaimed, clapping her hands together and bouncing on Charlie's knee.

Bella laughed, reaching out her hand to lovingly tickle Sarah's cheek.

When it came time to leave, Sarah's lower lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. An upset sob escaped her and she threw herself into Bella's arms, moaning, "Don' go, Mama! Don' go!"

"Oh, honeypot, don't cry." Bella peppered kisses along the length of her daughter's soft forehead and patted her back reassuringly. Sarah gripped the collar of her mother's shirt desperately, tears falling from her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She absolutely detested it when her parents left her; it made her feel left out of whatever they were going to do, and that they didn't love her enough to take her along with them. And it made her lonely; their absence was more prominent than if they had stayed.

After a few minutes of consoling and promising a good time with her grandpa, Sarah eventually let her parents leave, but clung to their legs all the way to the car. Jacob scooped her up and cuddled her to his chest, kissing her tear-stained cheeks and whispering into her ear, "Daddy loves you, baby."

Sarah hiccupped and hugged her father as tightly as her two-year-old muscles could let her.

As Jacob handed her gently to her grandfather, he pecked her cheeks and nose again, eliciting a tiny giggle and the twinkle to come back in her eyes. With final goodbyes, waves, and an air kiss from Bella—which Sarah returned enthusiastically—the car pulled away from the curb and drove away.

Sarah waved, holding back more tears, but broke down sobbing again as they disappeared.

—

"My poor girl," Bella moaned, staring at her lap and caressing her sensitive stomach gently.

"Aw, Bells." Jacob rubbed her shoulder with his thumb. "She'll be fine with Charlie."

"Did you see the look on her face?" When she looked at him, her eyes were shining with tears. "I feel so bad...," she murmured, and caught a few stray drops with her fingers, sniffling back a sob.

He had to admit, he felt awful leaving their little girl behind. They didn't normally have to be separated, so this was hard getting used to. Images of Sarah's small, brokenhearted face flashed across his mind, and he tried focusing on the road instead so he wouldn't cry too. Not when Bella was so close.

"I miss her already," Bella whimpered, and tucked her face into her shaking hands.

"I do too," he replied softly, stroking her hair from the top of her head to her waist. "But...we won't be gone long. We'll go in, see the doctor, and go home in a matter of twenty minutes. Easy stuff."

"This won't be easy stuff, Jake. You know this will take at least an hour to an hour and a half."

"Yeah, but to Sarah it will only be, like...five minutes. She's two, she has no perception of time."

Bella didn't answer. She dried her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. After a moment of silence Jacob began to worry that he'd upset her, and said in a soft voice, "Sorry, honey."

"What're you—" Bella hiccupped, "—apologizing for?" She eyed him in confusion.

"I made you upset." His bitter tone was directed internally. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

She smiled weakly, and reached out her hand to stroke his cheek. "It's the hormones, Jake," she gave a small, trembling laugh. Then she sighed. "I just hope she isn't...mad at us, that we left her."

He shrugged, "She probably fell asleep the minute we drove away." He half-grinned, but it didn't touch his dark eyes. He, too, felt guilty that his daughter couldn't join in this memorable experience.

Bella sighed again, and ran her fingers through her thick hair absentmindedly. "Yeah."

They were silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. The trees rolled by in a dark green blur, creating an impenetrable wall on either side of the car. The vibrations beneath their feet soothed Bella's jittery, distressed nerves; her hands shook slightly, and she rubbed her belly to calm them.

After a while Jacob broached the subject of baby names—his ideas in particular.

"So," he began, glancing at his wife out of the corner of his eye, "I have arrived at a thought."

Bella's brown eyes widened. He only used that tone and that exact statement whenever he was confident or hopeful about something. "Oh, no, Jake," she groaned knowingly. "Please, no surprises..."

He laughed; the sound filled her heart with a flicker of warmth.

"Don't jump the gun, Bella," he said, smiling at her adoringly. "I promise, you'll like this."

She stared at him, apprehensive. She knew how over-confident he could be sometimes.

Jacob sighed. "So I was thinking about Charlie, and so then I thought about baby names...," he glanced at her to check her reaction; her expression was relieved, that he hadn't been planning anything ridiculous, and curious as to what else he had to say, "and I came up with one for him...or her."

"And?" Bella raised her eyebrows, absentmindedly patting her rounded belly in anticipation.

"Well," Jacob said slowly, "for a boy, I was thinking...Charlie. Obviously," he chuckled, as she gasped and then smiled, with a little laugh, "and for a girl, I came up with Charlotte." He beamed.

"And we'd call the baby Charlie either way," Bella laughed. "Oh, Jake, they're perfect."

His grin widened. "I knew you'd like them," he murmured, and she giggled at the smug remark.

Bella was thoughtful for a minute, then she suggested, half-timidly, half-hopefully, "Or...or, if it was a boy, maybe his name could be Charlie-_Jacob_," she emphasized. "We could nickname him CJ."

Jacob laughed. "Ha! CJ. I like it." His chest filled with pride at the thought of having a son sharing his and his father-in-law's names. He could almost see it—a bouncing baby boy, laughing.

"CJ," he repeated softly, mostly to himself. And his previous assumption of a girl disappeared.

—

When they arrived at the doctor's office in Port Angeles, Bella was biting her lip and staring out the windshield, visibly nervous. She was unsure of what to think; now that they were here, she couldn't help the worried thoughts that crept into her mind. What if there was something wrong with the baby, like it wasn't growing right or was sick or had a birth defect growing, or something? She trembled.

And as though he could hear her thoughts, Jacob soothed, "Bells, I'm sure everything is fine."

She sighed with a helpless nod, her teeth continuing their gnawing on her lower lip, and she took his warm hand as he helped her out of the car. It was relatively warmer here, but the clouds still stayed stubbornly in their place in the sky. Jacob wrapped his arm around Bella's waist as they walked together to the cream-colored building that, once they were inside, would answer all their questions and fears.

Bella sank down into one of the plush waiting chairs while Jacob filled out the paperwork at the counter. Only one other woman and her husband occupied the lobby; she looked ready to pop at any moment, with twins—or triplets—from the looks of it. Bella was suddenly grateful she only carried one.

As Jacob came over to sit next to Bella, he and the other man shared a brief glance that only they—or most men in particular—would understand. It was like that of an apology and a good-luck wish and their funny masculinity all rolled into one; and it was followed by Jacob's quiet, "Twins, huh?"

"Quadruplets," the man sighed, with a sideways eye roll that his wife was unable to see.

"Yikes," Jacob breathed, wincing, probably wondering what that was like for both of them.

"You don't even know," the woman's husband huffed, before she scowled and smacked his head with a rolled-up magazine. Bella pressed her lips together and pretended not to notice the swift action.

The wait didn't last long. The other couple were called in a few minutes later—Bella watched, wide-eyed, at the woman's pace, which was like that of a turtle combined with a penguin—and the nurse glanced at Bella and Jacob with raised eyebrows, her eyes widening in exaggerated shock. Bella giggled.

"Aren't you just so glad we're only having one?" she murmured to Jacob, snickering still.

He sighed dramatically and nodded. "Very. Though I wouldn't mind in the least if we had six." He touched her stomach gently and leaned over to swiftly kiss her cheek, which was turning a delicate pink.

She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder, sleepily closing her eyes. She'd gotten an okay night's sleep—the nightmares weren't as persistent, but she woke up often for whatever reason, feeling nervous and having the need to walk around and straighten up the house at two in the morning.

After a ten-minute wait, the door to the exam rooms opened, and the same nurse stepped out.

"Bella?" she asked in a pleasant voice, and Bella jerked out of her unintentional doze.

She gripped Jacob's hand as they approached the nurse, who smiled kindly at them. Bella smiled shyly back at her, squeezing Jacob's fingers so tightly it would sprain a normal person's bones.

"How are we doing today?" the nurse—whose nametag said Dena—asked conversationally.

"Pretty good," Bella confessed. "Though I have to admit, I'm already getting slower and slower."

Dena laughed, leading them down the hallway to an unoccupied room at the end.

"Have you had any trouble with the weight gain at all?" she asked, professional now.

"No," Bella said, her cheeks flushing pink again. "I've been pregnant before. At first I was a little embarrassed, since, you know, I kind of look like an overgrown hippo, but I got used to it. But, um, no, there hasn't been any trouble. At least, I don't think so." She looked down at herself, self-conscious.

Dena chuckled, closing the door to their room. "And how did your previous pregnancy go?"

"Perfect," Bella replied, with a faint smile adorning her full lips. "We have a daughter. She's two."

The brunette nurse smiled. "And there weren't any complications during her birth?"

"None. Born healthy." Bella beamed. "Hopefully this one will be, too." She sighed wistfully.

"All righty..." Dena scribbled down notes on her clipboard rapidly; Jacob hugged Bella's shoulder.

Dena started with the typical check-up routine—earning a few red blushes from Bella during the process of checking her weight—then went on to the anticipated process of discovering whether or not the unborn baby was a girl or a boy. Bella pulled up her shirt, exposing her taut, rounded belly. She reached for Jacob's hand and squeezed tightly; he could hear her heart begin to accelerate like his own.

Dena pressed some buttons on the machine—getting it started, Bella supposed—and then gently spread a clear gel across the sensitive skin of Bella's stomach. Bella tried not to hyperventilate with excitement; but at the same time her heart was beating fast with anxiety, worry for her unborn child.

The snapping sound of Dena's white gloves against her wrists sounded oddly ominous.

"Okey dokey," she said brightly, reaching for the awaiting transducer. "You might feel a little pressure, but it shouldn't hurt. Tell me, though, if it does." Her smile was reassuring, and Bella nodded.

As expected, the smooth touch of the transducer was cool, but it quickly warmed to Bella's body heat. She and Jacob watched the nearby screen breathlessly, waiting to see their second baby eagerly.

And suddenly, it appeared among the grey and black tones of the ultrasound screen, writhing slightly; and Bella could feel a bitty fist lightly bumping the inside wall of her stomach, and tears sprung to her eyes. Dena glided the transducer slowly across the gelled area of Bella's skin, grinning happily.

"Well," she said softly after a long moment of tearful silence, "you have a little boy on the way."

There weren't words to describe how Bella felt in that moment. Her hands covered her eyes as the hot tears streamed from the corners and edges, rolling down the sides of her face and soaking her cheeks. She could feel Jacob's happiness—oh, how he always wanted a son, a little man to play football with—radiating from him as he cried right along with her. And he wasn't ashamed of it. Neither was she.

—

"Mama, Dada!" Sarah squealed, as the squeak of tires met her ears from all the way outside, and she smiled her dimpled smile broadly as she pushed herself off the couch and streaked towards the front door. The evening's first shadows were seeping through the windows and touching the furniture and walls of the little house, and her small bare feet padded against the darkened floor as she trotted.

Charlie scooped her up into his arms before she could open the door; he didn't want her to run out all by herself. Holding his ecstatic granddaughter against his hip he pulled it open for her, his crinkly-eyed smile appeared as he saw the expression on his own little girl's tear-streaked face.

"Dad!" Bella cried, and her voice cracked as she started crying all over again.

"Mama, Mama, Mama!" Sarah cried, leaning out of Charlie's arms and grasping the air between herself and her parents with her fists. Bella moved as fast as she could towards the house, placing her shaking hands right where they would fit best before pulling her little daughter towards her.

Charlie, in a silent fit of anticipation and euphoria, looked from Bella to Jacob eagerly.

Jacob grinned, his deep-set eyes visibly sparkling with fresh tears, and leaned in to whisper into his father-in-law's ear, "It's a boy." His husky voice had a happy break in it that he couldn't suppress.

And Charlie watched with tears on his cheeks as Bella tearfully cuddled her daughter, all the while carrying the little boy expected to be born that November. The brother and sister would have to share the same month of which they were brought into the world, but Sarah probably wouldn't mind.

She always wanted a baby brother. Someone she could tease but still love; someone she could argue with but still want to be around; someone she could cuddle with on rainy nights and whisper stories into his ear until he was lulled back to sleep, the thunder and lightning forgotten. Sarah would be the best big sister in the world to her baby brother, Charlie decided; her baby brother, her duckling.

Her duckling. He smiled again, and laughed as Sarah asked, "When's da ducky gonna come?"

_**Fin**_

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_*proud smile*_

_Heyy, I actually wrote and completed a one-shot for the first time! xD Haha. So I hope you enjoyed this; it was really fun to write, I absolutely adore Sarah. :) And I tried to catch the emotions of what pregnant parents might feel when they first find out what their baby's gender is...how did I do? xD_

_Tell me what you think in the reviews! Favorite too, if you'd like. :) Thanks so much for reading!_

_- Cherry_


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